Advice on tractor purchase.

Hi everyone. I am at that point where I need a tractor. The question is what type. Here are my needs for a tractor:

-I own 800 acres in NW Ontario with a mixture of fields, bush and trails. All trails have been cut by hand and now maintained with a 44" swisher and my chain saw and shovel when needed. I could use some culverts here and there and some smoothing. I also have other trails planned.

-I have some fields, they range from 2-4 acres up to 20 acres in size. Some are worked up now by neighbors and some are just in hay. I also have some areas in the 1-2 acres range cleared but not worked up yet, these will have rocks in them that need to be picked out.

-Would like to work up lands and some areas that have grown up a bit as well. I have mostly clay based soils.

-I have been looking at tractors in the 40-50 HP range but was wondering if these chinese tractors are any good. Would the 30 HP DF304G2 Tractor with Front End Loader satisfy my needs? Seems like a decent little tractor. Should I buy a used tractor? I don't want to spend a fortune but I also don't want to have to take it in for maintenance all the time either.

Re: Advice on tractor purchase.

Stay away from any chinese made tractor for now. Their reliability has not been proven and even here on TBN engine failures are reported at less than 800 hours on brand new ones. No way would I even think of buying used.
If you want used recently built, stick with the Japanese brands like kubota and Yanmar.
50Hp is about the right size for your needs as you listed them. I have a grey market Yanmar 4220D that has been a pretty good tractor. Although I wouldnt recommend the Vietnam rebuilds, mine was pretty good once I got all the rice field clay flushed out of the hydraulic reservoir. I think you can get some fairly recent used Kubotas for about the same price as the VN rebuilds though. Paint may not look as good but you could repaint it yourself which is about all those "rebuilds" are anyway along with maybe an oil change.

Re: Advice on tractor purchase.

What brands have dealers within a reasonable distance? Or what brands does your local tractor repair guy like to deal with?
I flip-flopped between my Kioti sized tractors and 60-70hp 8000lb+ utility tractors which I think you could probably use.
Thing is for $22-23k you get a new DK40 with an HST, new tires, etc.... Or a 5000+hr JD utility tractor with some sort of shuttle shift, or a 3000-4000hr Agco with bald tires.
I had no tractor ownership experience so I went with new and hopefully no expensive repair bills for 10-20 years... Also the HST is nice for loader work or in tight spots.
If your local guy is a Zetor wizz(or some other "off-brand") then you might want to ignore what most people here say if you trust he can set you up with a decent tractor. I thought about a Zetor 5245 for $8k that seemed to be in good running shape but my nearest Zetor repair guy was 1.5hrs away.

Re: Advice on tractor purchase.

Good advice and ideas. OK. What I will do is look at some of my local dealers and chat with them and see what they have to offer in my area. I live close to the border so I was thinking about possibly buying in northern Minnesota as well. I would beat the crap out of this tractor I am sure. I will be doing the plow, disc harrow thing in some areas. I will also be interested in digging culverts and smoothing out my quad trails which go through bush, rocks and varied terrain. I would also have regular yard duties and snow removal etc. I will report back on the various tractors and options me and my wife look at. I have seen plenty of used tractors of course but I need to look at as many as I can in person to make a more informed decision. I suppose I would be willing to spend more for decent quality. Thanks guys.

Re: Advice on tractor purchase.

why don't you look for a used jd 5510 or 20? ideally with a power reverser ,cast rear wheels,mfwd, loader and wheel weights.it is a very useful size but large enough to pull a 15 ft hog.you can add a backhoe when necessary.it is also backed by deere.it should be capable of handling your tractor jobs.